Butterfly Sightings 2005 – BC Upper Thames Branch
(Berks, Bucks & Oxon)
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** January to December 2005 Archive **

 

 

Saturday 31st December 2005

 

30/12/05 – David Redhead reported the following interesting discovery: “Most years a pre-Christmas retrieval visit is required to our loft. I usually take the opportunity to have a search for hibernating butterflies as on my first visit, some twenty years ago, I discovered about a dozen Peacocks and half a dozen Small Tortoiseshells. Over the two decades the numbers have gradually dwindled and this year, on Friday 23rd December, the lowest count to date was achieved with just one Peacock and one Small Tortoiseshell. However, I did manage to add a new moth species - a hibernating Herald moth. By precariously balancing a torch I was able to produce enough illumination to allow my camera to focus and obtain a photograph.”

 

Wednesday 28th December 2005

 

Richard Soulsby sent the following email on 28th December: “Nice to see all the reports of December Peacocks and Red Admirals. I've not seen any myself, but a friend in Benson, Dr Anne Millar, has told me that she found a Brimstone on 22nd December on Swyncombe Downs near here. It was lying in the frosted grass, dormant but alive. She took it home, and has put it into ivy in her garden, in the hope that it will survive the winter better there.”

 

Saturday 24th December 2005

 

Welcome to the website, new contributors Ann Pitwell & John Laker who sent in this report today from Marlow:

“We were privileged to see a Red Admiral today, 24th December, in the back garden at 10.45, in pristine condition.”

 

Friday 23rd December 2005

 

[Apologies for the late posting of the following sightings due to computer problems.]

 

On 19/12/05 Mick & Wendy Campbell were surprised to see a Peacock basking in the sunshine in a warm corner of their garden.

 

On 19/12/05 Tom Dunbar reports that a work colleague pointed out a pristine Red Admiral which had settled on a flowering mahonia in the school grounds at 12.30 today, 19th December.

 

On 18/12/05 Tony Croft sent the following email: “I was fairly astonished to see a Peacock in the garden on Friday 16th December. It was beautifully sunny and relatively mild (about 10C as I recall).”

 

On 15/12/05, a warm December afternoon, Wendy & Mick Campbell saw a Red Admiral fly down from the roof of their house and off across the garden. After about an hour it was seen heading back towards the house where it seemed to disappear up into the eaves, presumably to roost in the roof space.

 

Tuesday 15th November 2005

 

15/11/05 Dave Maunder sent in this news from Aylesbury today: “My only recent butterfly sighting is a very late Peacock in my back garden on Sunday 13th November, tempted out by some bright afternoon sunshine! The next few days don't seem at all good for moths or butterflies, with very low temperatures forecast.”

 

Monday 14th November 2005

 

On Monday 14th November Tom Dunbar saw a Red Admiral in Hazlemere near High Wycombe. "The bright sunshine was obviously enough to persuade this individual to leave its shelter from the heavy overnight frost. It sought nectar from a mahonia bush in the school grounds before charging off over the rooftops. This stands as my latest ever sighting of any butterfly species."

 

Paul Bowyer was at the Wyevale Garden Centre in Beaconsfield on Saturday 12th November and reports seeing a Red Admiral.

 

Tony Croft says Saturday's sunshine brought two Red Admirals and a Painted Lady to his garden although the temperature was a cool 10C. On Sunday 13th November he saw two Red Admirals at Whitecross Green.

 

Friday 11th November 2005

 

Today (11th) Dave Wilton continued his Brown Hairstreak egg survey of the Rushbeds/Lapland Farm area: “In 90 minutes I managed to complete about three-quarters of the west-facing Lapland meadow hedge which abuts the railway before the wind and rain got too much for me. It produced a paltry nine Brown Hairstreak eggs, although I did also find two Bl@ck Hairstreak eggs, two Blue-bordered Carpet eggs and a half-grown Oak Eggar caterpillar.”

 

On Wednesday 9th November Jan Haseler saw a Red Admiral on a south-facing wall at the Harris Garden, University of Reading. Jan also reports that her last Speckled Wood sighting was Thursday 27th October at Shinfield Park.

 

Caroline Steel reports that on November 5th her mother, Joan Peachey, found a Red Admiral resting on her washing line in her garden at Ashampstead, Berks.

 

Monday 7th November 2005

 

7th November – Tony Croft reports on his Brown Hairstreak egg hunting in the Long Crendon area: “I can't offer you another km square yet but it's getting close. I found two more eggs this afternoon. One is at SP687094 by a footpath in an open area behind some houses on the outskirts of Long Crendon and the other was on a track nearby.”

 

On Friday 4th November David Redhead was searching for Brown Hairstreak eggs in new grids in the Shotover area. He managed to locate a single egg to add to this year’s count, although unfortunately it was just in SP5705, so not a new square. A little further along his route, David had his second success of the day - a Red Admiral - very slightly faded but otherwise perfect.

 

Thursday 3rd November 2005

 

2nd November - Dave Maunder spotted the following butterflies in Aylesbury during the last week: Red Admiral (2), Small Tortoiseshell (1) and, at Coombes near Adstock, a late Painted Lady and Red Admiral on the 27th October.

 

Monday 31st October 2005

 

Many thanks to Ched George for sending in this remarkable report today, which adds a new species to this year’s UTB count: “A friend is confident that he witnessed a Pale Clouded Yellow at Ewelme on the 27th October. The black markings on the wings were checked. He’s positive it was not a helice form of Clouded Yellow.”

 

Sunday 30th October 2005

 

Tom Dunbar further explored the Bicester area on 29th October for Brown hairstreak eggs: "excellent habitat near Launton and to the south-west of Bicester failed to produce any eggs. I had a similar result to the north-east of the town where good blackthorn was in short supply. However the day was deemed a success in that I located 5 eggs in two new 1 km squares to the east of Craven Hill MOD depot."

 

Friday 28th October 2005

 

Dave Wilton reported this exciting news for 27th October: “David Redhead, Tom Dunbar and I carried out a search for Brown Hairstreak eggs to the east of Bicester in today's glorious sunshine and succeeded in adding 10 eggs to the count and four more brand new kilometre squares to the distribution map. Unfortunately two of these squares are right on the edge of our current map which will now need to be "tweaked" a little before they can be shown! During the search a single Comma was found sunning itself on a bramble patch and we had three Brimstone sightings, although it was not clear how many different individuals were involved.”

 

On 27th October Derek Brown said he and Cathy are still seeing Red Admirals in their garden in Beenham as of last Sunday - 2 weeks later than last year: ”Everything else seems to have disappeared. Overall for the year in the garden we got the Ringlet, which we didn't have last year, and the totally new Grayling, but we missed out this year on Purple Hairstreak and Painted Lady.”

 

26/10/05 – There were two Red Admirals in Nick Bowles’ garden today, busy on buddleia and ivy: “Seeing them with fieldfares and redwings calling as they pass overhead is a real sign of autumn.”

 

Monday 24th October 2005

 

David Redhead managed an absolutely new Brown Hairstreak square (SP5605) on Sunday afternoon, 23rd: “Inspired by Wendy & Mick’s 5 eggs on 29th September just NE of Horspath in SP5705, I headed east from Brasenose farmhouse and took the bridleway up the SE face of Brasenose Woods. This actually runs inside the woods and most of the blackthorn I found was heavily shaded, aged and unsuitable. It comes out in the middle of three hay meadows. I followed the footpath east across the bottom of the meadow - lots of blackthorn in the hedge on my right but north facing and no eggs found. The hedge dividing the second and third meadows is superb almost solid blackthorn, very wide with ash & oak - in the past I have looked here, without success. I went along the WNW face for about 50m to an ash tree with nil count, then tried the ESE face and almost immediately found two nice white eggs. As it was starting to rain I decided to head back home.”

Click here to see the full Brown Hairstreak report.

 

23rd October – From just across the border in Tring, Nick Bowles was pleasantly surprised that last weekend's Red Admiral count in his garden was surpassed: 3 this morning; 2 last week. Sadly the Comma, which was around for at least 13 days, was not to be seen.

 

Tony Croft walked along the road between Long Crendon and Easington in the afternoon of 21st October: “The road has quite a lot of blackthorn on both sides which has not been flailed for a couple of years. I found a single Brown Hairstreak egg at SP688099 on the eastern side of the road. If my interpretation of the latest Brown Hairstreak distribution map is correct then this is a new square.”

 

David & Wendy Redhead were in their garden on Thursday 20th October and saw Red Admiral (nectaring on ivy flowers) and Comma (sunning itself on the gate) - both were in good condition.

 

On Thursday 20th Mick & Wendy Campbell went walking in the Stanton St John area, searching for Brown Hairstreak eggs. They located 14 fresh Brown Hairstreak eggs plus 5 hatched eggs from last year. Along the way they were also pleased to see 3 species of butterfly still on the wing – singletons of Small Tortoiseshell (worn), Small Copper (worn) and Red Admiral. All three were on the edge of farm fields, in the shelter of hedges or woodland.

 

Dennis Dell reports:Red Admirals have been visiting the Beijing Buddleia in my garden every week since August 28th. The last was seen on October 19th, coinciding with the fading of the last bloom.”

 

Wednesday 19th October 2005

 

Ched George sent this news on 19th October: “Our Bottom Wood, Radnage work party finished the morning session by witnessing 2 Speckled Wood.”

 

17th October - Just back from holiday, David Redhead reports: “Last week, in spite of 4.5 inches of rain in just over 24 hours, Wendy and I managed 20 Red Admirals, 3 Painted Ladies, 2 Small Coppers and a Peacock on the coastal footpath around the St David's Peninsula - most were nectaring on Ivy flowers and all were in good condition. A Hummingbird Hawk Moth was nectaring on Red Valerian in Solva. Several fully grown Fox Moth larvae were found alongside the coastal path and a Ruby Tiger larva just missed being stepped on as it hurried across the path. On the way back several Herald moths were discovered roosting in the entrance to the Dolaucothi gold mines.”

Then on Saturday 15th, back in UTB territory, Wendy Redhead saw 3 Red Admirals and a Large White in the garden.

 

 

 

And finally, on Sunday 16th, David and Wendy were inspired by the warm sunny weather to try for a very late adult Brown Hairstreak in Bernwood Meadows/Forest but were unsuccessful. However, they were compensated by finding 43 Brown Hairstreak eggs along the way, plus one Blue-bordered Carpet Moth egg. Surprisingly, not one adult butterfly was seen in two hours.

 

On Monday 17th Wendy & Mick Campbell did a circular walk through Bernwood Forest, Waterperry Wood and the surrounding area. The warm, sunny weather brought 4 species of butterfly out of hiding: Red Admiral (1), Brimstone (1 female), Peacock (2) and Comma (1). Along the way they checked the blackthorn for Brown Hairstreak eggs and located 10 altogether in five different 1km squares.

 

Sunday 16th October 2005

 

Nick Bowles sent this news today, 15th: “Despite a dedicated, though short, search I could only turn up one species today- a Small Copper at Pitstone. It had only three wings which seemed strangely apposite given the way the season is so obviously falling apart. No blues there (my target species) no whites anywhere and even the ivy that held Red Admiral in numbers two weeks back (here in Tring) were now empty.”

16/10/05 – A further update received from Nick this morning: “After saying no sign of Red Admiral yesterday there are currently two Red Admiral and a Comma feeding on buddleia that I hacked back in early September and that is now in flower again. Not only did hacking cause renewed flowering but the small size is keeping all flowers but top two stems out of wind (sheltered by next door's fence).”

 

Derek Brown says he’s still seeing a few butterflies in his garden in Beenham:  3x Red Admiral today, 15th; and a male Brimstone last Monday 10th.

 

At 4.30 pm today, Saturday 15th, Wendy & Mick Campbell counted an astonishing 14 Red Admirals on their garden buddleia and ivy (the ivy has just come into full flower and was covered with bees and hover flies). Other butterflies seen earlier in the day on the buddleia were 2 Comma and 1 Small Tortoiseshell. A White flew through the garden too quickly to be identified. The buddleia and ivy plants are very mature and are situated next to each other in a warm, sunny corner of the garden. The ivy is growing up old apple and pear fruit trees and has reached about 20 feet, so it catches the sun all day long. All the Red Admirals and one of the two Commas were in very good condition, the second Comma was rather tatty.

16/10/05 – By 10.00 am Sunday, 4 Red Admirals and a Comma have already turned up again this morning.

 

Wednesday 12th October 2005

 

Tony Croft undertook a very brief local search for Brown Hairstreak eggs this afternoon, 12th ”Before the rain set in I found three Brown Hairstreak eggs along a bridleway between Easington and Chilton where a single egg was located last year.”

 

Tuesday 11th October - Butterflies seen by Dave Maunder around Aylesbury over the last week were:- Red Admiral (6), Comma (1), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Brimstone (1), Small White (1), and Speckled Wood (1) - the last 4 species were seen in yesterday's heat!”

 

11th October Dennis Dell sent this news:Today, while on one of my Aylesbury Ring walks around Ford, I passed through a very large young deciduous forestry commission plantation [trees not higher than 5'] (SP 788094); in years to come, this will be a very nice wood. I saw two pristine Painted Ladies on thistle here. The Red Admirals are still around my Beijing Buddleia.”

 

Monday 10th October: With the weather so unseasonably warm Dave Wilton couldn't resist stopping at the Rushbeds Wood tramway on his way to work this morning. “Unfortunately there was no sign of Brown Hairstreak but I did see Comma (13) and Red Admiral (1) on the brambles. Perhaps more interesting was a lone Peacock fluttering rather dozily around the entrance to the wood, presumably having been woken from its slumber by the warm sunshine.”

 

Sunday 9th October 2005

 

Dennis Dell sent this report on 7th October: “We are all still seeing the Red Admiral, and will probably continue to do so for some time to come. My Beijing Buddleia is no longer in its first flush, but there are still plenty of flowers, and even during the last two dull days there have been a couple of Red Admirals feeding for most of the day. I've just read again Ford's 'Butterflies' which has a long chapter devoted to migration; I was under the impression that this species migrates back southwards in October, but this is not mentioned at all in the book. In that case, those specimens which we are seeing now will hibernate, but most will perish during the winter (according to Ford). The only migration is into these islands from the south during the summer. I'm not convinced, because friends in Switzerland visit particular valleys in the mountains in October where they observe thousands of birds and Red Admirals flying southwards together”

 

Wednesday 5th October 2005

 

Dave Wilton saw his first October butterfly yesterday morning (4th): ”A Red Admiral whizzed by while I was at the Waste Recycling Site off Raban's Lane in Aylesbury. In the afternoon I went out to the area around Wendlebury, Oxon where I managed to find another two Red Admirals (on ivy), five Commas (on bramble) and a single Small Copper (also on bramble). I managed to add just one more Brown Hairstreak egg to the total with a singleton found beside the railway line at SP557-177.”

 

Dave Maunder reports seeing the following in Aylesbury during the last week:-Red Admirals (13) all on Ivy; Peacock (1) - in warehouse at work; Comma (1), Small Whites (2, on the 2nd.). Also at Eythrope on Sunday 2nd. I saw Red Admirals (7), Comma (1), and a nice selection of birds of prey which included 3 x Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard and 2 Red Kites!”

 

Tuesday 4th October 2005

 

The following was received from Tony Croft today, 4th October: “I have just returned from Whitecross Green Wood and was lucky enough to see a female Brown Hairstreak on hawthorn in an open area near the green lane. I also found 12 eggs. The only other butterflies seen were a male Brimstone, a Red Admiral and two Speckled Wood. At Rushbeds Wood on Sunday with the work party we saw 4 Comma, 3 Small Copper and several Speckled Wood.”

 

Sunday 2nd October 2005

 

Sunday 2nd October - Jim Asher sent the following interesting news: “A poor day to see anything much, given the low temperatures and breeziness. However I did manage one Large White at home, one Red Admiral plus 4 Brown Hairstreak eggs at Whitecross Green Wood this morning and one Small Copper, one female Brown Argus (see photo below) and three Purple Hairstreak eggs near Hitchcopse pit. Six species.”

 

1st October - Tom Dunbar reports seeing 4 Red Admirals in Aylesbury Churchyard today, 1st. Also 1 Red Admiral, 3 Commas and 1 Speckled Wood seen in 40 minutes at Grangelands this morning.

Then, on 2nd October: “Butterflies were very few today at Bernwood Oakley with single sightings of Comma, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. I looked in several hotspots for Brown Hairstreak but it failed to show. I still hoped to get my first October adult Brown Hairstreak and spent 50 minutes at Whitecross Green Wood. The only butterfly on the wing seemed to be an unidentified White until my binoculars turned up a solitary female Brown Hairstreak on an ash. A quick look along Widnell Lane on my way home failed to produce any further sightings.”

 

Jan Haseler sent the following report on 27th September: “I saw 4 Common Blues at Green Park, Reading, today, 27th. The furthest plot of a new business park was prepared with hardcore about 5 years ago, and has been untouched ever since. It has been colonised by buddleia, birdsfoot trefoil, mullein and lots more. In August there were 40+ Common Blues. I wonder whether today's 4 were still the 2nd generation, or perhaps a 3rd generation?”

 

Monday 26th September 2005

 

Nick Bowles was out cycling on Saturday 24th and reports the following: “I saw Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Comma and Speckled Wood in Wendover Woods. I went on to College Lake in the late afternoon and it had clouded up though 2 guys there said that a little earlier they had definitely seen a Common Blue and a probable Small Blue.

Then on Sunday 25th, I went to Finemere Wood and saw just 4 species: Small White, Red Admiral, Comma and Speckled Wood. I went home rather promptly after a wetting in the rain (that was definitely not forecast for lunchtime!!)

Finally, the direction of Red Admiral flight is intriguing at this time of year, some are definitely going very strongly south-south west; others are moving north, whilst most are just hanging about. Stuart Hodges tells me he drove along a track parallel to a southbound Red Admiral on Saturday and was able to keep exactly level at 15mph. If it kept going at that speed whilst weather permitted, it should be going out to sea about now headed for France.”

 

Tom Dunbar decided to visit chalk downland in the Pitstone area on Sunday 25th: “Either side of the heavy rain I managed to locate just 4 species - Small Copper, Common Blue, Speckled Wood and Small Blue.”

The recent Small Blue sightings are unusually late in the year, raising questions as to whether it’s a third brood. If the warm September weather continues, keep looking out for the late emergence of butterflies, such as the White Admiral (click here to read the Second Brood White Admiral alert.).

 

25/9 - Jim Asher reports: “Just returned from BC Council strategic meetings (Fri/Sat). There were about 30+ Red Admirals on the BC Head Office buddleias (beijing) plus one fresh Peacock (!!!) two Painted Ladies, Small Tortoiseshell and several Hummingbird Hawk Moths. Six of us from yesterday's meeting stayed over and walked in superb sunny but breezy weather near Worth Matravers this morning. We scored 12 species: Large White, Small White, Speckled Wood, several Wall Brown, Small Copper, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Adonis Blues and one Clouded Yellow! Plus - one Writing Spider (Argiope bruennichi) – see photo below. Most were seen in the Winspit quarry just above the sea.

 

On Sunday 25th several reports were received of butterflies and Hummingbird Hawk Moths nectaring on garden plants:

Dennis Dell counted 6 Red Admirals on the Beijing Buddleia he planted last year.

Dave Wilton’s newly planted Beijing Buddleia is being visited regularly by a Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

David Redhead reports one Comma and one Red Admiral on ivy flowers – but the Michaelmas Daisies & Sedums are devoid of butterflies.

Wendy & Mick Campbell’s Buddleia (variety unknown) attracted Red Admiral (2), Painted Lady, Comma, Large White and Small White, plus a Hummingbird Hawk Moth which has been a fairly regular visitor in the last few weeks. Nothing on the Sedum or Michaelmas Daisies, but the Verbena is proving moderately popular with the butterflies.

 

Saturday 24th September 2005

 

David Redhead’s Swyncombe Down transect today, 24th, produced only 12 butterflies - 9 Meadow Brown, 2 Small Copper and a Peacock. Sadly no Small Blues.

 

24th September - Tom Dunbar reports seeing 7 butterfly species today: "I visited Rushbeds Tramway in an unsuccessful attempt to locate a female Brown Hairstreak. I did manage a Small White, one Red Admiral, eight Commas, one Small Copper and two Speckled Woods. Next port of call was Chinkwell Wood for an outside chance of a second brood White Admiral - I saw one there in 2003. Only butterflies to add to my list for the day were a single male Brimstone, one Green-veined White and four Brown Hairstreak eggs - two of these were in the field on the northern edge of the wood."

 

Saturday 24th – Mick & Wendy Campbell had a very productive walk in the Holton area today. They found a good quality blackthorn hedge in a warm, sunny location and stopped to search for eggs. Just as they found their first egg, a very worn female Brown Hairstreak flew out across the field, settling at intervals in the grass to bask in the sun. Two further female Brown Hairstreaks were subsequently recorded along the hedge, one of which was seen laying an egg on the blackthorn. Judging by the reasonably good condition of the second and third females, they could well be on the wing into October, weather permitting! The complete list for the day was: Brown Hairstreak (3), Speckled Wood (2), Large White, Red Admiral, Comma (7), Peacock (sunning itself high up on the trunk of a Birch tree) and a Common Blue.

 

Friday 23rd September 2005

 

David Redhead reported the following on 22nd September. “This afternoon Wendy & I popped out to Swyncombe Down. Amazingly we saw a pair of Small Blues - I reckon these are contenders for the UTB all comers last sighting record and even more amazingly they were both quite fresh looking (see photo of one below). Also seen three Meadow Brown, a couple of Speckled Wood and singletons of Small Heath, Peacock, Comma & Red Admiral.”

 

Tuesday 20th September 2005

 

Dave Wilton had two Small Coppers in his Westcott garden on 17th September: “They were going through a little courtship display - that's a massive total for here as I've never had more than one before!”

 

17/9 - Dennis Dell sent this photo of a Small Tortoiseshell on a light pink variety of Sedum, which he planted in his garden last year. He wonders if this is favoured over the darker pink variety of Sedum which failed to attract any Small Tortoiseshells.

 

14/09/05 – Tony Croft found 3 Brown Hairstreak eggs on the outside edge of Whitecross Green Wood. “There’s quite a bit of good and searchable blackthorn around that field. Had a quick look along the road between Chilton and Chearsley railway bridge yesterday but no joy yet.

Monday 19th September 2005

Female Brown Hairstreaks are still on the wing as the following recent reports show. Please continue to report sightings to David Redhead (UTB Brown Hairstreak Champion). Besides examining blackthorn it is also a good idea to keep an eye in particular on Ash and Oak trees especially if you are out in the second half of the afternoon. Times of sightings are especially useful at the moment along with weather details if possible. Last year they were seen several times to be active in temperatures as low as 16C and once at 15C and the sun did not have to be shining. Will they last until the first week of October again?

 

17th September - Tom Dunbar dropped into the Woodham Industry site just north of the A41, en route to Laplands Farm, where a Brown Hairstreak had been seen in 2003 by Tim Watts. He says the blackthorn is very good but unfortunately no Brown Hairstreaks were seen. Laplands did produce one female Brown Hairstreak however: “it was on the second group of ashes in from the Bernwode plants gate on the railway hedgerow. It started on ash, moved to oak momentarily, before flying onto the blackthorn out of sight. I also did a partial egg-search and managed 18. I was surprised not to find any Small Coppers having had a report of 98 being seen in North Surrey on Tuesday. I managed 99 some years ago at a site near Buckingham at this time of year.”

 

12th September - Paul Huckle went to Whitecross Green Wood Tuesday 12th which produced one rather tatty female Brown Hairstreak. She was flying around the small meadow clearing just by the car park and he watched her rest for about 2 minutes on a small oak tree.

 

11th September – David Redhead did the Shabbington Wood transect. “I parked in the small Bernwood Meadows car park so I could examine the hedgerows for egg-laying females. None seen on the way across and no Brown Hairstreaks on transect - in fact a near record low 7 only butterflies - 2 Red Admiral (and one of those was on dumped apple peelings in the old Hell Coppice car park), 3 Speckled Wood, 1 Green-veined White & 1 Common Blue. The mass of ride side Devilsbit Scabious was totally unoccupied except for the one Red Admiral. Becky Woodell later told me she had seen about 30 Commas on the Scabious two days earlier on the Oakley Wood transect - had they all hibernated in the meantime! Back across the meadows again no Brown Hairstreaks. I then went up into the meadows north of the car park looking in ash & oak trees as well as at hedgerows. In the ash tree at the narrowest point a Brown Hairstreak settled and then opened its wings to show it was a female. I then moved down to the Menmarsh Road ash trees, which this year had proved totally frustrating in spite of several visits (2004 had 4 sightings here but 2003 none). I walked from the western end to the start of the footpath back to Bernwood Meadows - just 3 Speckled Woods. Walking back to my car a movement in the ash tree just before the large oak on the opposite side of the road caught my eye - a Brown Hairstreak female just opening her wings.”

 

Tuesday 13th September 2005

 

Dave Wilton recorded 10 butterfly species on 12th September – his report follows: “Proving that they're still out there to confuse us while looking for the Brown, I disturbed this rather battered Purple Hairstreak from the ground in Finemere Meadows this afternoon. It flew into a small oak and perched there rather obligingly for the camera (see photo below). Few other butterflies were active in the meadows, the only other species noted being Comma (1), Speckled Wood (3), Meadow Brown (1), Small Heath (2) and a lone Silver-Y moth. The bramble patches within Finemere Wood produced Comma (6) and Speckled Wood (28), both species undergoing their usual autumn increase in numbers, but the other species seen were all single specimens: Small White, Green-veined White, Small Copper, Common Blue and Red Admiral.”

 

On 6th September David Redhead had the following in his garden in Oxon: “Just now (11:15) in the garden 3 Red Admiral & 5 Comma - distribution: nectaring on buddleia = 2 Red Admiral & 1 Comma; nectaring on ivy flowers = 1 Red Admiral & 3 Comma; pretending to be a Brown Hairstreak in an ash tree = 1 Comma. Also about a Speckled Wood and a couple of unidentified whites.”

Thursday 8th September 2005

 

4th September - Ros and Mike Flemming sent this interesting report: “We can confirm sightings of Brown Hairstreak at Asham Meads on the Bank Holiday Monday (29th August) and on Saturday, 3rd September. On 29th August, a walk around the Meads produced nil result until returning to the car park at 2:45pm, when one individual was seen high in the trees at the entrance from the lane. A second flew in from the east just before we left. Later, on the same afternoon, we had good views of very bright Comma and Red Admiral in Bernwood (near the BBOWT Meadow).
On 3rd September, on a late afternoon visit and walk along the lane southwards from Asham Meads, we saw a very active female Brown Hairstreak in the hedgerow on the east side of the lane. After we had watched for about half an hour (at about 5pm), she settled on what appeared to be a carefully selected perch for the night. She walked around the leaf for a considerable time, sampling the surface with her proboscis and opening and closing her wings repeatedly before settling down in the selected position. It was noticeable that there were several yellow leaves surrounding the spot, which provided excellent camouflage. On returning from a walk across Otmoor at about 6:30 pm, she was still in the same position. Other butterflies seen in the area included Speckled Wood (several), Small White (few), Common Blue (several), Brown Argus (2) roosting on grass, Small Tortoiseshell (1, pristine). There were many dragonflies, including Migrant Hawker, and moths, including Magpie.”

 

Dave Wilton went out on two site visits, 3rd & 4th September and found the following:

4th September – “The Painted Lady (see photo below) was one of two seen feeding from devil's-bit scabious in the disused railway cutting west of Westcott Airfield this afternoon.

 

 

Other species present were Brimstone (1), Large White (1), Green-veined White (7), Brown Argus (5), Common Blue (66), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Speckled Wood (7), Meadow Brown (3), Gatekeeper (1), Small Heath (23) and moths Green Carpet (1), Lesser Treble-bar (3).”

 

“I had another look at BBOWT's River Ray reserves south of Marsh Gibbon in the afternoon of 3rd September, mainly with Brown Hairstreak in mind. “All hedgerows of all fields were checked, along with each ash that I came across, but I saw no adult Brown Hairstreak activity there at all. I did make a half-hearted attempt at looking for eggs every now and again and eventually managed to find my first of the season, proving that the adults are out there somewhere! Most of the butterflies that I saw were confined to patches of Water Mint in ditches and along the banks of the River Ray. They comprised Green-veined White (4), Small Copper (2), Common Blue (14), Red Admiral (1), Small Tortoiseshell (4), Comma (1), Speckled Wood (1) & Small Heath (20).”

 

Wednesday 7th September 2005

 

David Redhead sent in the following four updates:

 

Sunday 4th September. ”Wendy & I paid a late afternoon visit to Watlington Hill. We managed only 1 Silver-spotted Skipper. Also 18 Meadow Brown, 17 Common Blue, 17 Small Heath, 1 Small Tortoiseshell & 1 Speckled Wood. But the highlight was a Clouded Yellow - only my second of the year and Wendy's first.”

 

Report on the joint UTB/BBOWT meeting at Whitecross Green Wood on Saturday, 3rd September - “Summing it up in one word – phenomenal! A total of 12 Brown Hairstreak seen - including, yes we did it again, a mating pair! This time they were in an oak tree (actually an outlier of a combined ash/oak complex). Again there was a third in attendance but this time just sitting close by and not attempting to interfere. Jim Asher managed an amazing photo (see below) - not as high up as last time but further back in the tree. As you can see the male is extremely faded and hardly recognisable as a Brown Hairstreak (not a trick of the camera as this was the way it looked through binoculars). Another much brighter male was seen perched in an oak comprising part of another ash/oak complex. The other eight were all low level females - three being in the car park when the remnants of the party returned to their cars. One of these was actually viewed egg-laying. Another eleven eggs were found - 2 at the first intersection, 2 on the main hedge in the car park and 7 on the north facing hedge in the car park. These last 7 were all found by Una Fenton - interestingly Tony Croft and I were unable to find any along this hedge when we carried out our intensive search last March. Other species seen: Purple Hairstreak, Speckled Wood (both up in the tree canopy and causing confusion), Comma (four nectaring on a patch of Devilsbit Scabious), Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Brimstone & Small Heath (an unusual record for this site).”

 

Friday 2nd September - “Today looking for the Brown Hairstreak gave me some interesting observations. In perfect conditions I started at the ash trees east of the Menmarsh Guide Post. The one just past the large oak on the opposite side of the road had four Speckled Woods moving about in its canopy. Their main interest seemed to be the bare branches where they seemed to be finding something to feed on. At the start of the footpath north into Bernwood Forest there is a small ash tree. This was especially active with one Red Admiral, 2 Commas and 2 Speckled Woods in its canopy. The Speckled Woods, along with one of the Commas, were behaving exactly like the previous ones whilst the other Comma and the Red Admiral sat majestically on leaves sunning themselves. I did eventually find my Brown Hairstreak flying and perching high in an ash/oak combination alongside the field to the east of Bernwood Meadows. Also seen were Holly Blue & Purple Hairstreak.”

 

Monday 29th August –”I managed to get permission from the Beechwood Estate for a small group to survey Pyrton & Shirburn Hills for the Silver-spotted Skipper. I am glad to say our quest was successful with its continuing presence being confirmed as we counted some 15 individuals at each site. Our Silver-spotted Champion view was that we had a small to medium sized colony at both sites. At Pyrton Hill we also saw Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Small Copper, Small Heath, Large White, Small White, Brimstone, Red Admiral & Comma. The species diversity, reflecting the lower diversity of the vegetation, was less at Shirburn Hill with only Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Small Heath & Red Admiral being seen.

Pyrton Hill is one of our premier butterfly sites (historical records indicate it is home to another 5 key species) but it is sadly under-recorded. We are currently negotiating with the Beechwood Estate to regularly monitor this site in the future. Anybody wishing to assist please contact David Redhead at red.admiral@ntlworld.com.

 

 

Monday 5th September 2005

 

On 2nd September Dave Wilton spent another couple of hours at Lapland Farm: “Having parked at the junction of Kingswood Lane and the road to Ludgershall, I was greeted by a single male in the top of the ash right at the entrance to the bridleway that leads down to Bernwode Plants. The section of bridleway between the road and the railway produced Green-veined White (1), Common Blue (1), Painted Lady (1), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Meadow Brown (4), Gatekeeper (2), Small Heath (1) and Silver-Y moth (1), all of these being on devil's-bit scabious. The ash trees by the railway bridge and the entrance to Bernwode Plants produced only a pair of Speckled Woods and a solitary rather battered Purple Hairstreak. However, the first of the Lapland meadows produced another Brown Hairstreak, this time a female in egg-laying mode. I didn't see any further Brown Hairstreaks, despite scouring all of the hedgerows of both meadows as well as the drover's lane to the north. The only butterflies seen were Green-veined White (1), Common Blue (2), Red Admiral (1), Speckled Wood (5), Meadow Brown (19) and Small Heath (6). Following yesterday's report I even had a look down the north-south ride in the wood but all I found there was a single Speckled Wood.”

 

Phil Coles went to Rushbeds Wood on September 1st mid-pm and recorded a Brown Hairstreak in the NW to SE ride midway between that ride’s intersection with the W to E ride and the small gate from the wood into Lapland Farm, so within the wood. It was slightly worn and prospecting a straggly Blackthorn bush and good views were obtained while it sunned itself on a Hazel leaf.
[“I
think this is a first - whilst Brown Hairstreaks have frequently been seen on the wood edge and in the meadows to the north (Lapland Farm) and the south (The Tramway) as far as I know it has never been seen inside the wood.” David Redhead, UTB Brown Hairstreak Champion]

 

On 01/09/05 Janet Frost sent in this sighting:I would like to report a sighting of a female Brown Hairstreak on 23rd August at about 12.30 at Asham Meads. It was at ground level and then on bramble in the hedge, in the top field on the opposite side to the car park. It was about 10 yards to the right of where the telegraph wires cross the boundary of the field. This was the first time I had seen a brown hairstreak so close and it was a very definite sighting! I've been su